Tantivy

I should have taken more photos but I was busy the whole time working. We were doing what Anne calls "precision collage" which resembles appliqué . Anne had simplified drawings of ERI, Henry VIII, and face cards of all the suites. We chose one and traced it numerous times. (She made me start over because my tracing was too sketchy - I have a hard time going to the edge and closing my lines to make shapes.) From our tracings we cut pieces that we glued to the master traced copy. Sounds easy and I guess that it was, but not in every way. So here is mine. When I flipped it over we decided that the back was interesting so I have photographed it also.  This is the back. If I add a little color to the face and hands it might be really good.  The front. As you can see, the long chains she wears need color (gold) and she needs a face as well as some powder. I don't think that Elizabeth was much for sun, but she looks like she just came home from two weeks at the beach!....

Vicki and I are in Tullahoma at Jenny's house after having spent a day with Anne Bagby, taking a class from her. If you are not familiar with Anne's work, to look her up. Her work is fantastic. I don't have any pictures to show you yet but I will after tomorrow's session. Meanwhile, I looked out of the window Thursday to see all my porch furniture back in the front yard! No fear, the painters were here and painted the ceiling of the porch the light green that we used for the shingles and painted the last little patch of shingles. I think that they are finished. Dean talked to the electrician that afternoon (Vicki and I were on our way to middle Tennessee) so I hope that all our electrical outlets are now working. There is still plenty to do inside, though. The city of Cleveland has three trucks that come around. On Thursday the garbage truck comes at some time unknown to anyone until they arrive. More than once we have run out hoping to be seen before they are gone....

I just fixed the link to MaryAnn's blog on The Joke is on Me. Try it now and see her great pictures.

Or, "Pride Goeth Before A Fall". So here I was this morning, having had coffee and gotten dressed and played on the computer (I gave myself a Hidden Object Game for my birthday). I had arranged the flowers,  put a load of wash in the machine and taken apart a hot knife  (Dean wanted the cord to replace one on a heater),  thinking, "Men just can't do it all like women can". And that is where I made my first mistake because about that time the buzzer went off on the washer and I went to the laundry area to put the clean clothes in the dryer. Whoops, there were already clean clothes in the dryer. Clean, but still a little damp. And (sniff test here) stinky . You might know the drill from here, or you might never do something so forgetful. Anyway, I am thankful for oxygen bleach because these were good, medium-colored clothes, not something to throw back in to hot water and Clorox. Ugh! Phew! But, I have something to make up for that sme...

Yesterday we made another quick trip to Cashiers to haul out some more stuff. Tomorrow Vicki and I are going to try to get things together a little bit. Flying up the highway in the truck, pulling our box trailer, I didn't have time to take photographs of the beautiful leaves. They changed quite a bit from last Saturday and were at what might be their loveliest for this year. I did take these right in own yard, though. These are Tardiva hydrangeas. Fall bloomers, their blooms are somewhat cone-shaped. They bloom white and then turn this lovely color. The ones at the house have grown to huge proportions and are covered with blooms.  This is a form of Japanese maple. I can't think of its name right now and I can't get to my book to look it up, but in the fall it turns red, yellow, orange or maroon or sometimes all three. As you can see, it still has some green on it and I think the contrast make the colors just that much more striking.  The butterfly b...

The last few days have been busy. First, I began cleaning off the front porch. The painters had just stacked everything back at one end and I hadn't gotten the energy to tackle it until Friday. Here it is, nearly finished. I have to take the vacuum cleaner to the cushions and then, in the spring, wash them.  I still had a bag of trash to carry off. Why didn't I wait to take the photo until after I had done that?   The pumpkins are oak, carved with a chain saw. I had a third one but it disappeared off the porch the first year we were here. You will notice the brick entry pillars and the benches provided for your repose as you wait for an audience . One of these days I will get the potting soil into the pots, the steps will be leveled, the sides rebuilt and then you will have to walk straight on up-- no entry, no benches. Oh, well, I guess that will work.  Saturday we went to Cashiers, meeting Sara and Greg there, and hauled stuff out of the very full...

The outside of the house is very nearly finished.  Copper flashing has been added under the dormer. I love the reflection on the overhang and the window. We will eventually replace the old screens with ones that have fine mesh and are nearly invisible so that the windows don't look dirty. (right now they actually are dirty but that will change.) Even after all this work there are many many little things that this old house needs.  The chimney has been capped. Since it was rebuilt there has been a sheet of plywood on top, held down by bricks. To my eye this is a real improvement!! Of course the copper will turn brown and eventually green. I think it will look good at each stage and at the ones in between.  The shingles have all been applied. The painting is still to be done but the color difference is not really very noticeable. Especially during this season when the tree near it is still in leaf.  It will be painted  in the next few weeks. Then th...

I won't take too much of your time this time. I have been sick with a combination of sinus troubles and a virus of some sort and am still a little tired but much better. I just had to show you this, though.  We have a porch! It still needs a rail and I might want stairs down the other side also, depending on where we decide the dogs should make a habit of doing their "thing", but Dean and I sat out there this morning with our coffee cups and just enjoyed life. I really like being able to go up and down the steps without having to aim just right so that my foot doesn't go through the place where there was no board, especially when I am leashed to two anxious-to-go dogs. We are on our way to having a sink! Dean and I lifted the heavy thing into place this morning and he is preparing to begin the plumbing. The fixtures haven't arrived yet but they can't be installed until the countertops are in. However, having a drain would be such an improvement and the ...

Monday night was a really late night (I was reading Lady and Fin) so Tuesday I didn't spring right out of bed.  In fact, I was lying there listening to the workers upstairs and in the kitchen when Bella suddenly slipped off the bed and padded out of the room.  It took me a few seconds to process this then I slipped off the bed, into a robe, and padded out of the room myself. Me:(do I need to say "groggily "). Did the dogs go out? Cory: yeah, they are down at the corner. Me:(resignedly) I'll go get them. This time I slipped into a dress. It was a knit, dark colored loose dress. I tell you this because you will notice that I didn't slip into anything between taking off the gown and slipping into the dress. Everyone who has Houdini dogs should have such a dress. Jackson , who is growing old, just waited for me but Bella, still young at 10, raced around, up and down the street, in and out of yards until I just headed for home with Jackson and her racing arou...